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The Cessna L-19/O-1 Bird Dog was a liaison and observation aircraft. The Bird Dog had a lengthy career in the U.S. military as well as in other countries.

Design and development

The U.S. Army was searching for an aircraft that could adjust artillery fire, as well as perform liaison duties, and preferably be constructed of all metal, as the canvas covered Liaison aircraft used during World War II (primarily Stinson and Piper products) had a short service life. The US Army issued the specification for a two-seat liaison and observation monoplane and the Cessna Aircraft Company submitted the Cessna Model 305A, a development of the Cessna 170. The Cessna 305A was a single-engined, light-weight, strut-braced high-wing monoplane with a tailwheel landing gear. The greatest difference from the Cessna 170 was that the 305A only had two seats, in tandem configuration (the largest tandem-seat aircraft that Cessna ever produced), with angled side windows to improve ground observation. Other differences included a re-designed rear fuselage, providing a view directly to the rear (a feature later dubbed "Omni-View" and carried to Cessna single-engine aircraft after 1964), and transparent panels in the wings' center-section (similar to those found on the Cessna 140 and the later Cessna 150 ''Aerobat'' model), which allowed the pilot to look directly overhead. A wider door was fitted to allow a stretcher to be loaded.

The U.S. Army awarded a contract to Cessna for 418 aircraft which was designated the L-19A Bird Dog. The prototype Cessna 305 (registration ''N41694'') first flew on 14 December 1949. Deliveries began in December 1950 and the aircraft was soon in use fighting its first war in Korea from 1950 through 1953. An instrument trainer variant was developed in 1953, later versions had constant-speed propellers and the final version the L-19E had a larger gross weight. Cessna produced 3,431 aircraft which was also built under license by Fuji in Japan.

The L-19 received the name Bird Dog as a result of a contest held with Cessna employees to name the aircraft. The winning entry, submitted by Jack A. Swayze, an industrial photographer, was selected by a U.S. Army board. The name was chosen because the role of the army's new aircraft was to find the enemy and orbit overhead until artillery (or attack aircraft) could be brought to bear on the enemy. While flying low and close to the battlefield, the pilot would observe the exploding shells and adjust the fire via his radios, in the manner of a bird dog (Gun dog ) used by game hunters.

Operational history

The Defense Department ordered 3,200 L-19s that were built between 1950 and 1959. The aircraft were used in various utility roles such as artillery spotting, front line communications, medevac and training. In 1962 the Army L-19 was redesignated the O-1 (Observation) Bird Dog and entered its second war in Vietnam. During the early 1960s the Bird Dog was flown by South Vietnamese airmen (ARVN-Army Republic Vietnam/SVAF South Vietnamese Air Force), US Army aviators, and clandestine (Ravens) aircrews. In 1964 the Department of Defense (DOD) issued a memorandum directing that the U.S. Army turn over its "Fixed Wing" O-1 Bird Dogs to the US Air Force, while the army began its transition to a "rotor-wing" force (helicopters).

The U.S. Army was allowed to retain some O-1 Bird Dogs for artillery observation (spotting/forward air control) until the new army helicopters entered service. All previous operators mentioned above, including the US Army, continued using the O-1 Bird Dog throughout the war, however the bulk of the O-1s were operated by the U.S. Air Force from 1964 until the end of the war in 1975 (flown primarily by South Vietnamese airmen in 1975). During the Vietnam War, the aircraft were used for reconnaissance and forward air control (FAC). Supplementing the O-1, then gradually replacing it, was the USAF O-2 Skymaster, a faster, twin-engine aircraft which entered Vietnam in the mid 1960s. The last U.S. Army O-1 Bird Dog was officially retired in 1974.

During the course of the Vietnam War, 469 O-1 Bird Dogs were lost to all causes. The USAF lost 178, the USMC lost seven, and 284 were lost from the US Army, South Vietnamese Forces, and clandestine operators. Three Bird Dogs were lost to enemy surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

As the USAF phased out the O-1 in favor of the O-2, many O-1s in the United States were sold as surplus. During the 1970s and 1980s, Ector Aircraft remanufactured many as the Ector Mountaineer with their original powerplants, and as the Ector Super Mountaineer with the Lycoming O-540 -A4B5.

The L-19/O-1 is a popular ex-military "warbird" with private pilots. As of June, 2009, more than 330 were registered with the Federal Aviation Administration. Others are owned and operated outside the United States by individuals and flying organizations.

Notable flights

On 29 April 1975, the day before the fall of Saigon, South Vietnamese Air Force Major Bung-Ly loaded his wife and five children into a two-seat Cessna O-1 Bird Dog and took off from Con Son Island. After evading enemy ground fire Major Bung-Ly headed out to sea and spotted the aircraft carrier USS Midway. With only an hour of fuel remaining, he dropped a note asking that the "runway" [sic] be cleared so that he could land. Knowing there was no room for this to happen, Rear Admiral Lawrence Chambers ordered that $10 million (US currency) worth of UH-1 Huey helicopters be pushed overboard into the South China Sea. The Bird Dog that Major Bung-Ly landed is now on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.

American television personality/actor Ed McMahon was a Marine Corps aviator and piloted one in Korea, flying more than 80 combat missions during 1953.

The Dash-One (official Operating Manual) for the O-1E issued to USAF pilots in 1970 had the following statement: "rear seat rated for one pilot/observer or two Vietnamese."

Variants

L-19A

(Cessna 305A)Initial production version for United States Army, redesignated O-1A in 1962, 2,486 built.

TL-19A

L-19As converted to dual control trainers, redesignated TO-1A in 1962.